SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Just about a year ago, Mark O’Donnell found himself at a crossroads. He had just wrapped up a career that began in engineering and ended in management and needed to figure out his next steps.

After playing a lot of golf, he realized he wasn’t ready to give up work just yet. 

“I found myself in a position where I wasn’t ready to retire and was looking for the next chapter in my life,” O’Donnell says. He took a step back, evaluated his career, and thought about what he really enjoyed doing. “The engineer in me likes to solve problems, and I love to help people.”

With that thought in mind, O’Donnell launched Operations Excellence, LLC, late last year. The consulting firm helps small to mid-sized businesses and organizations with anything from increasing productivity to planning leadership transitions. He does this by working through root-cause analyses and helping clients define goals in order achieve the desired results.

O’Donnell’s one-on-one coaching approach combines skills that he developed during his 20 years working in management roles including strategic planning, team building, staff development and process improvement. With these skills, he can help clients build a cohesive, energized, committed, and positive team as well as refine the organization’s vision. O’Donnell can also tackle issues such as retaining customers, growing the business, improving profits, reducing waste, and improving customer satisfaction.

“I’m not afraid to bring in outside people when I need help,” O’Donnell notes.

To start the business, O’Donnell began networking with his peers and working relationships he developed over the years. While he filed the paperwork to start the company in September, it wasn’t until the end of last year that he was fully up and running. To help accomplish that, he affiliated with Trusted Advisors Network, LLC. The Reading, Pennsylvania–based company is a network of more than 200 advisors, consultants, and coaches that can turn to each other for help, support, and advice when it comes to operating their own consulting business.

Now that O’Donnell has done work for some clients, word of mouth is helping the business attract more clients. Once he gets the opportunity to get in front of his target audience, the response has been positive, O’Donnell says. He is an active member of Center State CEO, MACNY, and his local rotary club — all of which give him opportunities to network and spread the word about Operations Excellence.

While he is the company’s sole employee at this time, O’Donnell says he could see things expanding in the future to a point where he brings in other consultants on a part-time basis.

“I’m doing something I love,” he says, and he can see the business taking him through to a time when he is ready to retire.

O’Donnell spent years working as an industrial engineer before transitioning into management roles including director of engineering and VP of operations. Most recently, he was general manager at JR Clancy Wenger Corporation’s Syracuse location from 2010 through last July.

O’Donnell is a Syracuse native but offers his services across the country. He received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research from Syracuse University and an MBA from Le Moyne College.